Federal judge Ariel Lijo this Thursday ordered the National Communications Entity (ENACOM) to “immediately” order the digital blocking in Argentina of an allegedly discriminatory meaning of the word “Jew, a”which is part of one of the five definitions proposed in the online version of the dictionary of the Real Academia Española (RAE). It is one that describes a person as “greedy or usurious”although it is clarified that said use has an “offensive or discriminatory” nuance.
The magistrate gave rise to a criminal complaint filed on August 28 by Claudio Gregorio Epelman, in his capacity as representative of the World Jewish Congress Foundation, and Jorge Knoblovits, in his capacity as president of the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA).
There the alleged violation of the Ley 23.592whose scope covers “discriminatory acts or omissions determined by reasons such as race, religion, nationality, ideology, political or union opinion, sex, economic position, social condition or physical characteristics.”
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Regarding the punishment for this type of crime, article 3 of this law indicates: “Those who participate in an organization or carry out propaganda based on ideas or theories of superiority will be punished with imprisonment of one month to three years.” of a race or a group of people of a certain religion, ethnic origin or color, whose purpose is the justification or promotion of racial or religious discrimination in any form.”
The complaint was made against the director of the RAE, Santiago Muñoz Machado, “as well as against any other responsible human person who is part of said organization, since these would be found inciting hatred against the Jewish community“.
Regarding the derogatory definition that motivated the judicial presentation, emphasis was placed on its capacity to “condition the behavior of those who share the language and to incite violence in any of its different forms.”
Furthermore, the judge’s resolution stated that “Without prejudice to the fact that the Royal Spanish Academy does not have offices or personnel based in Argentine territory”, the dictionary website constitutes a “mandatory source for learning the Spanish language” and is publicly accessible to any Argentine inhabitant.. “Therefore, the reported conduct would produce its effects in the Argentine Republic,” considered the federal judge.
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A complaint against the “stereotypical image of the Jewish people”
On January 30, 2023, the head of the RAE declined the request to delete that meaning given that, in his opinion, “is supported by use, even though it may be socially inappropriate or reprehensible”.
In his reasoning for the ruling, Lijo considered that “the conditions are met to maintain that the fifth meaning of the word “Jew, a” – even with the note of use as offensive or discriminatory – contains hate speech at the base of its meaning“, given that “it attributes pejorative characteristics to the member of a group for the sole fact of being such.”
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“I also consider that this is not hate speech with abstract effects, but rather that it produces concrete effects on an indefinite but important number of people. For the formulation of the discourse in question is not reserved for an intimate forum or, although public, with restricted access; On the contrary, it is incorporated into the Dictionary of the Spanish Language. In this sense, the broad scope of this compendium cannot be overlooked,” he indicated.
In view of the above, it was stressed that in the interests of the protection of human rights it is appropriate that “the interruption of the massive and pernicious dissemination of a stereotypical image of the Jewish people, which incites discrimination on religious grounds“.
ca / ds
